


A New Dawn

by theartofbeinganerd



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: And Maybe a Cottage, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, and kissing, just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-05-01 06:23:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5195483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theartofbeinganerd/pseuds/theartofbeinganerd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma is more than a little suspicious when Fitz decides to take a drive early in the morning during their trip to visit Fitz's mother - as she should be.</p><p>*Set sometime in the future, post 3x07</p>
            </blockquote>





	A New Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short contribution to what I'm sure will be plenty of fics after the latest episode. Enjoy!

“Fitz,” Jemma sighed, her head lolling back against the headrest of the passenger seat, “ _Where_ are we going?”

Fitz didn’t take his eyes off of the dark road ahead of them as he replied, “Just…going for a drive.”

Even without looking at her, Fitz could tell that Jemma was arching her eyebrows in disbelief at his admittedly flimsy excuse. “A drive?” she repeated, her voice heavy with suspicion. “You just had the urge to go for a drive at two AM?”

“Yes,” Fitz answered defensively. “Is there anything wrong with that?”

“There is when we should be resting before our flight back home bright and early tomorrow,” Jemma shot back, and Fitz caught sight of her crossing her arms over her chest out of the corner of his eye.

“So, get some sleep now. I’ll wake you up when we get there.”

Fitz could practically feel her narrowed gaze burning a hole in the side of his face. “When we get _where_?”

Biting the inside of his cheek to hide his wince at the slip-up, Fitz searched his mind for a plausible answer. “Back to my mum’s, of course.”

Jemma was silent for a long moment, continuing to study him with sharp, calculating eyes. He knew she was looking for any sign of what the real reason for taking a drive through Scotland in the middle of the night was, and she stood a better chance than anyone of figuring it out – she _did_ know him better than anyone, after all.

However, after awhile, she let out a lengthy yawn, and conceded, “Fine, go for your little drive and be exhausted tomorrow. Don’t expect me to put up with your constant grumping, though.”

“Of course, love.” He knew immediately that the endearment had done the trick, and a brief glance away from the road proved him correct. Jemma had a soft, affectionate smile on her face, her eyes shining with an answering love that still made his chest constrict.

She reached out, placing her fingertips lightly on his forearm, brushing them up toward his wrist. “Try not to stay out driving for too long, alright?”

“Alright,” Fitz agreed, lifting his hand from the steering wheel and capturing hers so that he could bring it up to his lips, pressing kisses to her knuckles. “Get some sleep.” He placed her hand back in her lap before replacing his own on the steering wheel, and when he glanced over not ten minutes later, she was fast asleep, tucked up against the passenger door and looking more beautiful than anyone had the right to.

Sometime later, when Fitz was finally pulling onto a nearly hidden side road, the sky was beginning to lighten outside the windshield. After driving for a bit down the road, Fitz took a right down a long driveway, then slowed the car to a stop. For a moment, he sat there in the silence left after turning off the engine, staring at the sight in front of him as the nerves began to set in.

But, he ignored them and unbuckled his seatbelt before turning to the woman beside him. She was still sleeping peacefully, a hand tucked under her cheek and a wayward strand of hair falling across her forehead. Fitz reached out to brush the strand back, tucking it behind her ear, and Jemma stirred a bit. “Jem?” he murmured, running the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “We’re here.”

Jemma shifted a bit in her seat, scrunching up her nose adorably, then blinked up at him. “Fitz?” she mumbled.

“Good morning,” he greeted with a chuckle, pressing his palm against her cheek and scuffing his thumb along her cheekbone. “Can you do me a favor and keep your eyes closed?”

A bit of awareness crept back into her features, and Jemma’s eyes narrowed in returned suspicion. “Fitz –”

“Please?” Fitz tacked on, dragging his thumb over her lower lip.

Jemma gazed curiously at him for a moment, then pursed her lips to kiss his thumb and nodded, closing her eyes. Fitz grinned, leaning forward to drop a kiss on her forehead before getting out of the car and going around to Jemma’s side to open her door and help her out.

“For some reason, I don’t think we’re back at your mum’s,” Jemma deadpanned as she allowed Fitz to lead her up the gravelly driveway.

“What makes you say that?” Fitz replied teasingly, though he didn’t exactly get the tone right, as he was beginning to get really nervous.

“Fitz?” Jemma asked worriedly, obviously picking up on his anxiety.

“I’m fine,” he assured her, lifting her hand to his mouth to press a kiss to the back before dropping it. Taking a deep breath, he shifted around so that he was in position, then told her, “You can open your eyes.”

Immediately, Jemma’s eyes popped open, and he saw them widen right away as she took in their surroundings, her mouth dropping open as she let out a little gasp. “Fitz…” Then, her gaze came to rest on him, kneeling before her on one knee and holding out a little black box. She sucked in a sharp breath, her hands coming up to cover her mouth as her eyes glazed over with tears.

Clearing his throat, Fitz started, trying to keep his voice even despite the fact that he felt just as ready to burst into tears, “Jemma…I…I’ve imagined this day so many times, in so many ways, and I wanted it to be perfect, but in the end I realized that it _would_ be, as long as we were together and you knew just how much I love you. And, well…I know how much you hate grand gestures. So –”

“Yes,” Jemma interrupted, the word flying from her lips as she lowered her shaking hands.

Fitz blinked up at her a couple times, then he let out a long-suffering sigh. “ _Jemma_ , let me finish.”

“Yes,” she repeated, her mouth curling into a brilliant grin as the tears started to drip down her cheeks.

“ _Jemma_!”

“ _Yes_.”

Groaning at his impatient girlfriend, Fitz asked quickly, the sentence coming out rushed and all in one word, “Willyoumarryme?”

“I already _said_ yes,” Jemma reminded him with a sniff, though the affect was lost in her dazzling smile as she held out her left hand and waved it in front of him. “Really Fitz, it was a bit of a given. I told you before we were even together that I thought about settling down with you. Which, speaking of –”

Fitz cut her off there, already sliding the ring onto her finger and smirking at the way it fit like glove, just like he’d designed it to. “Jemma, _please_.”

“Please what?” She threw a smirk of her own at him, tugging him up by his collar so that she could press her lips against his, tears mixing together on their cheeks. She gave him a few more loving kisses, then mumbled against his mouth, “We’re in Perthshire, aren’t we?”

Fitz groaned against her lips, dropping his forehead against hers. “Why do I even _bother_ trying to surprise you anymore?”

“I wonder that myself sometimes,” Jemma teased, draping her arms around her neck as she pulled back enough to gaze at the cottage standing behind them. “Fitz, it’s…beautiful. Perfect. But how did you –”

“Well…” Fitz rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, shrugging modestly. “I’ve been in touch with a realtor for…well, awhile, and when I decided to propose, I figured it was time, so I…well, I chose this one, if that’s alright with you? I wasn’t sure what the one you loved so much looked like, but this one is pretty isolated, has a nice big yard, and a basement large enough for a lab, so –”

Jemma cut him off with another kiss. “Fitz, do you own this cottage?”

“No.” Reaching into his pocket, Fitz searched around for a moment, reaching back with his free hand to take one of hers from behind him. Freeing a set of keys from his pocket, he set them into her palm and corrected, “ _We_ own this cottage.”

She glanced from the keys, to Fitz, then shook her head and laughed, pulling him in for another, longer kiss. When they finally parted, she murmured, “I love you, you sentimental idiot.”

“ _Idiot_?” Fitz pulled away from her, his eyebrows high on his forehead in disbelief. “I managed to hide this from you for _months_. You never suspected a thing! I’m a bloody _genius_ , that’s what I am!”

Giggling, Jemma clenched her fingers in the front of his shirt, tugging him back into her. “You,” she started, kissing him, “ _are_ ,” another kiss, “an idiot,” another kiss. “I’ve suspected you were planning something like this _for_ months, Fitz. It was just a matter of when and how you were going to do it. In fact, I actually suspected you might be planning to propose last night at dinner, but then you didn’t and I was a bit disappointed. But this…” She shook her head, wide eyes scanning their future home. “It’s so much more than I expected.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re happy with it.” Fitz shifted to wrap his arm around her as he turned to face the cottage as well. The sun was just barely rising over it, signaling a new day – the first day of the rest of their life together – and Fitz couldn’t help but remember another sunrise what seemed like so long ago.

“Oh Fitz,” Jemma sighed, resting her head against his shoulder. “I’m _so_ much more than happy. I’m not even sure there’s a word for how absolutely content and elated and just…” Trailing off, she shook her head, then turned to kiss his jaw. “I love you, Fitz.”

Closing his eyes against the swell of emotion rising quickly in his chest, Fitz turned his head to press a kiss to the top of her head. “I love you too, Jem.”


End file.
